Letter From BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman

Jul 01, 2013

July 1, 2013

Dear BIG EAST Supporters:

With today marking the first official day of operation for the
new BIG EAST Conference, I wanted to take this opportunity to greet
everyone associated with the conference and its member schools and
express how honored I am to assume the role of Commissioner.

What’s old is new again as we return to the BIG
EAST’s roots and the vision of founding Commissioner Dave
Gavitt, who created the conference in 1979 to showcase outstanding
basketball, spirited competition and passionate rivalries. Now,
nearly 35 years later, the BIG EAST is poised to build on its
heritage and bring a new wave of excitement to the
student-athletes, coaches, students, faculty, administrators,
alumni and loyal fans of its ten distinguished schools.

With newcomers Butler, Creighton and Xavier joining conference
stalwarts DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St.
John’s, Seton Hall and Villanova, the new BIG EAST will offer
top-flight academic programs and rigorous athletic competition to
nearly 2,500 student-athletes in 22 sports. We are very excited
about our long-term television contract with FOX Sports and its new
cable network, FOX Sports 1, which will allow us to nationally air
a wide range of BIG EAST basketball games, as well as other
conference events. We also look forward to establishing our
headquarters in New York City and continuing to stage the BIG EAST
basketball tournament in Madison Square Garden, both of which will
assure us a presence in the country’s biggest media
market.

While we have much to do in the months ahead to bring the
conference office to full operating capacity, I’m confident
that we will create a first-class organization we can all be proud
of and that will fully support the work of our member
schools. I’m especially grateful to our ten Athletics
Directors and their staffs, whose excellent work over the past
three months has allowed us to hit the ground running
today.

I look forward to meeting many of you as I travel to our
campuses in the coming months, and I thank you for your continued
support as the BIG EAST starts this exciting new era.